Effect of Amaranthus Mosaic Virus on the growth characters of Amaranthus hybridus

摘要

The effect of inoculating three Amaranthus cultivars: NHAM/114, NH84/457-IL and commercial Amaranthus with Amaranthus mosaic virus (AMV) at successive weekly interval for four weeks was investigated. Inoculation of plants at early age of 2-3 weeks after planting (WAP) resulted in more severe symptoms than inoculation at a later stage of 4-5 WAP. Early virus infections at 2 WAP significantly reduced plant heights by 44%, 34% and 37% in cultivars NHAM/114, NH84/457-IL and commercial respectively, while those inoculated at the age of 5 WAP showed 16%, 8% and 13% reductions in cultivars NHAM/114, NH84/457-IL and commercial respectively. Viral infections also resulted in significant reduction in the number of leaves in all the three cultivars. At 2 WAP mean values of 16.88, 38.65 and 31.47 were recorded for the leaves of cultivars NHAM/114, NH84/457-IL and commercial respectively compared to 29.40, 48.18 and 41.67 obtained at 5 WAP for the three cultivars respectively.